SOCIAL ICONS

NEWSLETTER

Friday, 14 February 2014

I'm a big fan of graphic novels but I'm not going to lie to you, what sparked my interest in reading this was the amount of hype surrounding it because of the upcoming movie released in 2014. I've heard so many good things about the film – and the cast – that my hopes were very high for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers. It collects Guardians of the Galaxy (2013), #1-3 and 0.1, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers #1.

It started off with 0.1, a prequel to the beginning of the Guardians of the Galaxy. It tells the origin story of Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord), the leader of the Guardians. I really loved 0.1, and was struck by how fantastic the artwork was. Stories #1-3 introduce us to the rest of the Guardians, which includes Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer and Groot – who is a living tree, because all good stories need one of those… oh and Tony Stark. Slowly but surely you get to know each of the main characters and their back-stories, which are all solid and grounded in good plot.

Probably my biggest issue with Guardians is the arrival of Tony Stark. He just happened to be hanging around in space when the alien invasion arrived, as you do. I know that these were released in 2013, and you have to wonder whether his (very underwhelming) guest spot was drafted in quickly for promotional reasons – although I, for one, am totally over Tony Stark, can you tell? I’d like to share this little section of dialogue, where a 3 foot tall homicidal raccoon puts him in his place:

Tony Stark: "They destroyed my Armour suit"
Rocket Raccoon: "Did they destroy your man-parts as well?"
Tony Stark: "No."
Rocket Raccoon: "Well then take this, point it at anyone who's not one of us and kill them."

I probably would have liked Tomorrow’s Avengers to not have been situated at the back of the book, because its timeline fits snuggly between #0.1 and Guardians #1. It’s an anthology book with 4 short stories – each highlighting a different character from the Guardians team. Each story is drawn by someone different, which is interesting. Rocket Raccoon’s story is the highlight of the anthology definitely, and I’m seeing myself fall for the little homicidal maniac.

Apart from the few issues I've mentioned, I really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers and would encourage all Marvel fans to read it. I'm excited to see where they’ll take these characters on screen. Also – the first big story happens in London, yay for feeling involved!

This was reviewed by regular reviewer Kath. Get to know more about her here.